


What Monsters Do

by Sheebatroid



Category: Metroid Series, Super Smash Brothers, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Romance, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, I'm gonna make them smooch and there's nothing you can do to stop me, Multi, Slow Burn, samus experiences emotions and doesnt know what to do with them, zelda experiences emotions and knows exactly what to do with them
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-04-06
Packaged: 2020-01-06 00:57:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18377669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sheebatroid/pseuds/Sheebatroid
Summary: Zelda finally decides to pursue the bounty hunter that always seems to slip between her fingers, but getting Samus Aran to open up may be a task that's hard to handle.Rated M for language and mature future chapters





	What Monsters Do

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there, welcome to my first post!  
> I originally wrote this fanfic in 2016, but am rewriting it to get back into the swing of writing! I can guarantee at least 10 chapters incoming, so you won't be left hanging, I promise ♥

Intense. That was the only word that could describe her.

To say she was as agile as she was brutally strong would be an understatement, or so it felt to Princess Zelda as she and a small crowd of fellow Smash competitors peered eagerly over the stadium's balcony. The battle was fierce, but the roaring crowd below assured that Samus Aran was definitely the one to bet on.

 

It was down to the armoured maiden herself against tight-knit teammates Fox McCloud and Falco Lombardi - all three clearly exhausted - and Zelda was surprised that Samus’ armour hadn’t given out under all the scratches and dents it had sustained. It never looked completely healed even outside of battle, which had Zelda wondering if she preferred to fix it herself instead of trusting the staff with it; word had it that Samus had worn the same suit since the first day she was sworn as a bounty hunter, however consider she’d also heard that Falco was ‘apparently’ part duck, it was hard to know what to believe around the smash mansion halls.

She wondered so much, in fact, that it was only the strained and startled cry of Fox as he was launched out of the stadium and beyond the screaming crowds that snapped her back into reality just soon enough to see Samus land effortlessly - wielding her arm cannon in the air for balance. Whether it was purely out of awe or spurred on by the chaos breaking loose from the crowd below, Zelda sure enough found herself cheering too.

 

“Pika? Pikaa-chu!” 

 

A familiar chirp caught her attention, and she turned to be greeted with Pikachu’s smug grin before he hopped up to settle neatly on the balcony rail in front of her.    
Pikachu had been one of the first friends she made upon entering the Smash recruits programme - drawn to him through curiosity and instinctual adoration of his ‘sweet little face! Oh, and those rosy cheeks!’ as she had so excitedly relaid to Peach, and had consequently learned how to translate fairly fluently. He had in fact asked,  _ ‘So you’re a Samus fan, eh?’ _

 

“Pi-Pi, pika! Pikaa-chu!”

_ ‘Wouldn’t blame ya. She’s quite something.’ _

They laughed together for a moment, and she nodded coyly.

“I cannot say I have seen her in action for a long time, but I suppose I am!” A calming but bright smile graced her lips, and she relaxed - glad to see a familiar face amongst all  the strangers and new competition. She had never considered taking up combat as a full time hobby before the smash arena was introduced, considering the only times she’d had to take up combat were when her kingdom was at risk of total destruction; she was a pacifist at heart and hoped to solve her problems with the least collateral damage possible; but when Link had urged her to join him in new challenges outside of the castle walls she couldn’t refuse the chance to get out and let herself go.

Granted this was only her 5th visit - the first being very fleeting where she was too reclusive to get to know many fighters at all, and the second being absolutely hectic to the point where she barely had the chance to greet new fighters before being pit against them. This visit, granted she had only arrived early this morning, had already been a grand success. She had gotten to know almost the entirely of this year’s ‘roster’, made plenty of friends too, but once again the bounty hunter had managed to slip through her grasp. It was almost no surprise that Samus was already participating in matches, and to an outsider it seemed as though she cared for nothing more than soundly beating her opponents into the stratosphere.

 

Pikachu nodded, almost knowingly, and turned his attention back to the Stadium; Samus was occupied with her cannon, taking a swift exit as the announcer called the next set of fighters. He chirped something under his breath before looking back at Zelda, tail swaying confidently as he rocked back to sit on his rear legs. If anybody knew Samus, it was Pikachu.

 

“Pi-pi, kaa-chu... Pika-pi!”

_ ‘Just don’t get too peppy with her. Dogs can bite, you know.’ _

Zelda’s smile faltered. “Dogs can bite?” She echoed, “Samus does not strike me as an animal… Just very sure of her position.”

Pikachu only shook his head, peering over her shoulder as the elevator rung out that it had reached their floor.

“Chuu!”

_ ‘Speaking of!’  _ He twitched his tail, gesturing briefly towards the door and leapt from the handrail, scampering off towards the food hall with what Zelda could only assume was a flashy smile.

“Pikaaaa!”

_ ‘Be careful, friend!’  _

She was about to press the matter further, but her attention was quickly stolen as Samus stepped out from the elevator, helmet tucked neatly under her free arm. Zelda wanted to believe she had decided not to approach Samus, seeing how the towering blonde already looked hot and bothered enough, but the Princess’ wordless stare could tell any passerby that she was simply frozen in her tracks. 

It was the first time she had seem Samus up close, even if mostly covered by the Varia suit. It looked well work to say the least, and yet still unbreakable - but it was the woman inside that had caught her eye.

 

Tall was an understatement. Standing at 6’3 Samus easily rivalled many of the competitors for height, not to mention incredibly well built too. Despite having only just come out of battle her hair wasn’t particularly messy; strands of molten sunshine tied up tight in a ponytail. 

Their eyes met for a long moment, and Zelda steeled herself as blue eyes burned into her.

The silence was broken abruptly as Samus let off a throaty huff, eyes squinted suspiciously, and turned away towards the dorm rooms.

 

Perhaps that wasn’t as subtle as Zelda had planned.

 

Despite her best effort, Zelda couldn’t seem to find Samus anywhere for the rest of the day. She had a lot of questions revolving around everything from battlefield technicalities right down to how her day had been - but it seemed as though she had just hidden away with her own business. Regarding Samus’ job it would make sense if she were busying herself, but the gunship remained parked neatly outside of the arena without any signs of interference. Surely she had to be inside the building somewhere, but no matter where she looked and no matter whom she asked there was simply no sign of her - even as the fighters piled into the food hall at the end of the day and the kitchen staff denied her half-hearted suggestion that perhaps Samus had already passed through earlier.

As the sun set to rest and the last of the fighters trailed from the food court towards their forms, Zelda shook her head with a feigned smile.

“I suppose I will not be seeing her any time soon.” She mumbled to herself, back arching like a cat as she stretched and muffled a yawn.

 

Pushing open the door to the women’s dorm, she shared a few smiles with the Mushroom Kingdom’s princesses before retreating into the hallway of bedrooms. Running her eyes over the nameplates of each door she quickly realised that fighters from the same area were matched together, and the remaining competitors put into pairs.

Peach and Rosalina in one, Palutena and Lucina in another...

‘Samus and I are rooming together?’ She pursed her lips. Surely the newcomer Wii-Fit Trainer and Samus should be paired together? Zelda had been here around far longer than the trainer had; it would make far more sense to pair up a veteran with a newcomer so that she could show her the ropes.

Shrugging it off, she cautiously opened the door.

Empty, of course.

 

A part of her was disappointed to be the first one back out of the two, and she perched neatly onto the side of her bed with a sigh. Everything was exactly at she remembered - unchanging through every tournament season. Renovation clearly wasn’t as anticipated as new fighters, but she couldn’t deny that some patterned bed sheets or a dash of colour on the curtains would make a nice change. It was only as she began slipping into decoration daydreams that she spotted a neatly folded note on her pillow, which she quickly scanned through.    
  
A map (Helpful, at least - the arena had expanded since her last visit) was taped to the back, a list of the staff, the openings and closings of the food court timetable… and a personalised note.    
She hummed hopefully, and much to her relief, a handful of her questions were answered:

 

_ Princess Zelda of Hyrule, _

 

_ Welcome back to the Smash Arena! We apologise for the room change, however we believe that Ms. Aran will be the most suitable roommate for you during this tournament. _

_ Newcomers have been paired up together this season as we would like to test if they find socialising less stressful when already introduced to others in their position. _

_ Since neither you or Ms. Aran have fellow fighters from your region of the same gender in the field, we have decided to place you together. _

_ We are aware that you may not be used to the building's new layout, so we have alerted her that you may need some assistance; please do not be afraid to approach her if you need to. _

_ Best regards and happy fighting, _ __   
  


_ Master Hand' _

 

“How thoughtful.” She smiled to herself, lightening up at the thought of having Samus as some sort of guide, or dare she even think it, mentor. Pikachu’s words were still fresh in the back of her mind, and her expression faltered. 

What if Samus wasn’t as accepting as the letter implied? She had no intentions of using Samus, but the ironclad maiden had felt everything but approachable beforehand.    
She shook the thought from her mind and began packing her belongings away neatly in her designated bedside drawer.

It was a cosy little bedroom, even if they did all look the same. Plainly designed walls and a boarded floor with a single bed on each side of the room and a small drawer by the head of each bed. Between the two drawers was the door to a rather snug en suite bathroom, which was also stripped to the basics. It was bare necessities, but then again these rooms were purely for sleeping in. 

 

“Oh, hey Sammy!”

 

The voice of Peach, the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, rang merrily from outside the door, bringing Zelda back down to Earth as well as a rising feeling in her gut that she didn’t recognise. Was it nervousness? Excitement? Fear, perhaps? It seemed like a nasty combination of all of the above.

As the sound of metal-on-metal rattled outside the door, a sound which Zelda would soon learn to recognise as Samus’ Varia - the power suit she adorned so proudly - shuttering in on itself to leave her in the Zero Suit. She barely had time to turn around before Samus blocked the light from the doorway.

Their eyes met, and Zelda felt an almost electrical throng run down her spine.   
Samus’ eyes were smouldering, but there was something about them. Something behind the fire that she immediately felt gravitated towards, and Zelda found herself unable to tear her gaze away.   
It was a few long moments of silence between the two before Samus’ surprised expression fell deadpan, Eyes narrowing slightly with what seemed to be irritation. Zelda cleared her throat and rose to her feet, quickly gathering composure as she spoke - trying to remain calm despite the embarrassment that now raged through the heat in her cheeks.

 

“Samus?” She asked softly, almost in disbelief, but received a mere grunt and incline of the head in response from the blonde. She swallowed inaudibly, glad to have at least gotten something in reply.  _ Foolish question… of course it is Samus. Get a hold of yourself. _   
“There is a new system this year,” She began loosely, fiddling with the letter between her fingertips, “So I suppose that you and I will be in the same quarters for the entirety of this season.”   
Samus blinked, almost blanking the princess entirely as she passed and dropped her bag onto the bed. It was the first time she had seen Samus out of her armour, especially squeezed together in such tight quarters, so naturally the Hylian was more than slightly taken aback, but even so, she was a little offended at being so readily dismissed.

“So, I was-”   
The door to the bathroom clattered shut, and Zelda was left to stand in silence as the squeak of the shower took over. Samus clearly wasn’t in the mood to talk, so she sunk down to sit on her bed again. Despite what could only be described as a rocky introduction she couldn’t shake that look in Samus’ eyes out of her head; an old sadness, dulled over year after year of the same routine, likely so hectic that chaos meant nothing to her any more. It was sadness.


End file.
